D-205 Rejects Most Employees' Remote Requests

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst public schools provided the first hard numbers Thursday on how many employees wanted remote assignments for when the schools start in-person learning in mid-September. The information came in response to a public records request from Elmhurst Patch.

According to District 205, 143 employees made requests to work remotely in light of the pandemic. Seventeen requests were approved. Another 55 could work remotely until in-person lessons start. Then they must show up to work. The remaining 71 teachers' requests were rejected outright.

Elmhurst Patch had requested the information for teachers, but the district gave numbers for all employees. So it's still unclear how many of the remote requests came from the district's roughly 600 teachers. At a recent meeting, a school board member twice said two-thirds of teachers are prepared to execute an in-person learning plan.

School officials couldn't be reached for comment to clarify these issues.

Also on Thursday, Elmhurst Patch obtained a copy of an email that Luke Pavone, assistant superintendent of human resources, sent to an employee. In it, he rejected a remote assignment request.

"When the district returns to a hybrid/in-person learning model, we are not able to accommodate your remote teaching request. Therefore, you are expected to return to the building on the first day that children are present," Pavone said.

Originally, the district had planned to begin a mix of in-person and remote days starting this week. But a couple of weeks ago, the district said it lacked the staff to begin now because of the remote assignment requests. So it began remotely instead. It plans to start in-person lessons Sept. 14, but officials say they have no guarantee, given the staffing issues.

Earlier this month, the teachers union announced its opposition to in-person learning, noting the continuing pandemic. But it has been publicly quiet since the district decided to start remotely.

Asked to comment on the handling of the requests, the Elmhurst Teachers Council said, "The union has no comment at this time while negotiations with the district are still ongoing."

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